Carville: Obama Must Stop Claiming Economic Growth

Democratic strategist James Carville advised President Barack Obama against touting economic growth during his presidency, he has revealed, just days after Obama drew fire by saying the private sector was "doing fine."

“I’m worried when the White House and the campaign talks about the progress that is being made, people will take that as a signal that they think that things are fine and people don’t feel that or believe that.” Carville told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Carville was elaborating on a message he co-authored in a Democracy Corps memo delivered this week to the White House. Obama handed the Republicans fresh ammunition at a news conference last week touting the relative strength of the private sector at a time when unemployment has risen to 8.2 percent and growth has slowed to 1.9 percent in the first quarter.

Americans want to be reassured that the understands the depth of the problem in that he has a plan to deal with the deterioration of the middle class,” Carville said.

Obama will travel to Cleveland Thursday to deliver a “major economic address,” which campaign aides have referred to as a “framing address,” ABC said in the report, which suggested Obama might be moving in the direction Carville recommended.

Based on analysis of focus groups among swing voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Carville and Greenberg write in the memo that the Obama campaign message that stresses the slow, steady progress of the recovery is out of touch with the pain Americans are feeling, the Washington Post reported.